NFL Week 1: Denver, Cutler, Saints, Urlacher, Lions, and other observations

I'll try to do weekly thoughts and observations after every week in the NFL. It's a lot of fun! Since I watch every game, I might as well.

Denver:
The "D" is back in enver. For the past three year the enver Broncos have had no defense. The D is back in Denver. Mike Nolan has brought an aggressive, energetic, and violent approach to defense. The talent is also hugely upgraded. DJ Williams, Champ Baily are the only real starting holdovers from last year. The grueling training camp that McDaniels ran will put the defense in better position to keep playing in the fourth quarter and into December and January. Shanahan never drove the players this hard, and the groin/hamstring injuries added up. These injuries will no longer happen now that are players are being worked and trained hard.

FOr 59 minutes and 20 seconds we held the high-powered Cincinatti offense to 0 points. Zero points! Wow!

The front 7 is mostly in a 5-2 look. Making the offensive line guess who is coming and who is dropping out. Their goal is to stop the run, and we limited the run to only 90 yards. Our d-line gave Cincy's huge offensive line trouble, and they wore down as the game went on. Our guys were phenomenal!

Sacks? Interceptions? FINALLY! Denver has not had a pash rush for three years! We finally have one, and the sacks were coming as well. We ended the day with 3 sacks and 2 interceptions. I really liked the play of Alphonso Smith (rookie). We gave up a first round pick next year for him, and damn he was worth it. Of all our rookies, he is the best so far! Phenomenal play! Haggan and Woodyard were also impressive at the LB position.

A lot of the commentators during the broadcast and afterwards were saying, "What we are watching here is two really bad teams." I disagree. Cincy has a potent offense. They would march up and down the field, then our defense would get a nice stop. Cincy's offnese has a lot of toys. They can run, they can pass, they have the entire package. They are going to win a lot of games this year and surprise people. I don't think they are a "really bad" team.

When you talk to a lot of our defensive players, they are excited about our defense. We are no longer a "read and react" defense, waiting for the offense to dictate to us what we could do. Our defense now wants to be aggressive and dictate to the offense what they can and can't do. This is a huge change. In 2005, our defense held opposing offenses to zero touchdowns through nearly half the year, but mostly by a read and react philosophy. We ended up 13-3 that year, hosted the AFC Championship Game and beat Brady's Patriots in the playoffs. But then lost to Pitt at home. Our defense now will not allow an opposing offense to get going. This is a new philosophy. Mike Nolan's defenses have always led the NFL in turnovers, and so far so good.

So far our defense is ranked 4th overall in interceptions, we are tied for second in poits allowed, and we had no turnovers. That is a huge change! Overall, I like what I see on the defensive side.

Special teams coverage units did well, but our return units need to get us better field position. I am sure we will fingure this out.

Our offense sputtered. We finally got things figured out in the fourth quarter, which was a relief. I think people don't realize that Orton is playing with 15 stitches in his index finger. That is the most important finger, and it hurts to squeeze the ball. I can't imagine how painful that must be. Some of his passes were off, but I am sure a healthy hand will be better. Even with the injured hand, he was still able to zip the ball around. The WRs dropped too many balls. Last year we were third in the league in dropped balls. That needs to be cleaned up. A lot of times it looked like the ball hit the WR with too much zip, or they weren't expecting it, and they dropped it. They know it, and they all said they will clean that up.

The running game with Buckhalter was fine. They needed to stick with that. No reason to throw Moreno in to the mix. He explodes to the hole, instead of exploding through the hole. He needs to learn to follow his blocks and be patient. I'd like to see more of Buckhalter and Hillis in the run game, until Moreno figures it out.

The miracle last minute play was not such a miracle. McDaniels coaches these guys on situational football, tip drills, etc. Stokley's job on that play was to "trail the route and catch any tips". He did that very well. As the seasoned veteran, he had the wherewithall to run parallel to the line and not score until more time expired off the clock.

Prior to that coach McD fought for the extra 18 seconds to be put back on the clock. If we had only 20 seconds, instead of 38, the game would be over. McD has a staff person on the sideline assigned to keeping time. He called over the refs and stated his case. Of course, the Cincy home timekeeper tried to screw Denver over. McD wouldn't allow it. A very veteran and intelligent move.

Very impressed so far with McD, our new defense, and special teams. The offense still needs to gel, and it looks like they got their groove going in the fourth quarter. That needs to continue. Bring on the Browns in Mile High next week!

Saints:
Something very special is going on in New Orleans. The offense that Sean Payton and Drew Brees are running is quite possibly one of the best the NFL has seen in quite sometime. Sure, we had the 2007 Patriots, and the 1999 Greatest Show on Turf Rams. But this is really amazing! Drew Brees is not surrounded by an amazing talent of WRs. He has a bunch of nobodys that were drafted in the 6th and 7th rounds or were not drafted at all. Their first round WR, Meachum, hasn't even done anything. You have Colston (almost the last pick in the draft), Moore (from Toledo, undrafted), Henderson, and a few others. No Randy Moss, no Welker, no Holt, no Bruce, no Hakeem. I am not sure what that offense is called, but it is a thing of beauty! It's awesome watching Brees go to work! If you are a footbal purist and a football fanatic, you can get the NFL rewind package or DirectTV to be able to watch New Orleans games.... DO IT! History in the making!

Lucky for Denver, Orton played in the same spread offense that Drew Brees played in at Purdue.... and broke all of Brees' records. With McDaniels (the mastermind behind the 2007 Patriots offense) now in Denver with Orton (another spread quarterback), hopefully we will see a new record-breaking offense. At least I hope so.

Cutler:
Bear fans, chill out! Worst game of Cutler's life. Green Bay's defense is really that good. Cutler will be fine! He likes to squeeze the ball into tight places, because he can. You saw the nice pass to Knox and Hester. He throws a lot of INTs as well. He will get better as time goes on. He is very young and very raw. Immensly talented. Hopefully, Turner and the QB coaches can teach him.

The Bears long snapper needs to not make his own calls on fake punts. That needs to be a coaching decision. Lovie needs to learn how to use his challenges better. Was he challenging his own call? What the hell was that? It was funny nonetheless!

Urlacher, Puslosny, Junior Seau:
When you take too much steroids, your bones become more brittle, and they break. Stop the steriods! I don't know if these guys take steriods, but lots of other players, playing football for many years haven't broken their wrists. These three all have wrist fractures. These three are all linebackers. These three are all not considered strong, athletes in the pure sense. These three were skinny scrawny kids in college, that ballooned in the NFL. Coincidence? Yes, LB is a violent, physical position to play. But how often does someone break a wrist? Ribs, legs I can understand. But wrist? Come on guys, no more steriods!

Lions:
Ok, they lost pretty bad. But they didn't look as bad as last year. Stafford is very raw, but he looks promising. This year they should win 3-4 games maybe more. The future looks promising. I think I just lost a few brain cells writing that!

Patriots n Bills:
Wow! For a team that lost their offensive coordinator a few days before the season started, the Bills look damn good! I like their no-huddle, always hurry up offense. Trent Edwards does a masterful job of calling plays and running that offense. Tiring out defenses and leading them down a path, then changing it up on them and surprising them. Each play builds on the previous, and they were always in the right play. I like that a lot. The defense can never be right (or rested enough to react). Unfortnately their return man, McKelvin, suffers from retarditis. Why not take a knee? I liked what I saw from the Bills offense. Very impressive. I thought this team would be a disaster and barely win a game or two. They played damn well and nearly won the game. They went after Brady and should have won the game. This team will be competitive. No more retardedness!

Green Bay:
Damn, they have an awesome defense! Dom Capers 3-4 scheme is very aggressive. Cutler was running for his life (and he can run)! Very impressed with this team. Woodson baited Cutler all night. They are playing well in all three phases of the game. They have an offense that is complete. A stout defense with a new aggressive coordinator. And a great special teams. These guys will contend for the NFC North pretty competitively. When Cutler was traded to the Bears, I was sure the Bears would be in the Super Bowl. I think they can still make it. But GB is going to fight them tooth and nail. And the Favre led Vikings have a chance as well. How long can Peterson keep running? Who knows. Until he wears out, they have a chance.

Cowboys:
They  look a lot better. Minus the circus act. Their defense is their weakest link. Romo looks like he will be back at 2007 form. Keep an eye on these guys.

McNabb:
Broken ribs hurt! There is nothing you can do about it. And you can play with broken ribs, but it hurts like hell! Can he play? It depends on which rib is broken. Philly is a damn good team! I had them winning their division. We'll see what happens.

Carolina:
Delhomme..... wow! Real bad! Yes, Philly's defense is good, and he can recover. But that is a blow to your confidence. They have serious problems on defense, but their offense will be ok.

Adrian Peterson:
This guy is a beast! Throwing defenders to the ground with a single hand.... Holy Toledo! This guy is unbelieveable! Can't say enough about him.

Sanchez:
Pretty decent start for a rookie QB. Very impressive. Poor Stafford. How'd he end up on the Lions? Yes, he is getting paid. Really getting PAID! But at a deeper, inner level, all competitors want to win. I'd give up the $40 million guaranteed to play for a competitive team for less money, but a chance to make the playoffs.

Brian Dawkins:
Holy smokes! This man is insane, genuine, and a freak! He was flying all over the field, led the team in tackles, and was the most inspirational nutjob I have ever heard! So glad this guy is on our team! He plays for Denver's defense, but deserves his own section. Wow! I don't know what to say. Now I realize why he is considered a revolutionary safety!

Any thoughts or observations? Please share!